Has anybody not trashed a digital camera at some point while out and about? Dust or sand, water or ice-cream, the great outdoors ruthlessly claims its tech victims on a daily basis. While manufacturers have busily carved out a niche of rugged ‘adventure-proof’ cameras, the truth is that most people, whether on the slopes, at the …

Re: umm..

Kind of baffling to me that the Cannon D10 & D20 were not shown, give they are pretty popular ruggedized waterproof cameras. I've had a Cannon D10 for several years now, and I use it almost exclusively in the water when swimming for underwater & "out in the middle of the pond" shots, not just "near" water/snow. Works great, floats if let go (even in fresh water), great pictures, etc. They are also very brightly colored, specifically so they are easy to spot if you set them down.

Re: Nikon Coolpix AW100

Viewfinders!

I need a viewfinder! My middle-aged varifocal-equipped eyes can't cope with screens, particularly outdoors in bright sunlight. Been trying for some time to get a new compact with a viewfinder, can't find one anywhere.

Re: Quality?

Canon S90/95/100

All are good choices if you can find one used. The 95 and 100 add video. I have the 90 and paid US$400 for it. You can probably find it for half that now, and it would be a very good choice. Takes excellent low light shots and has good resolution. Very flexible settings including all-manual and will automatically take a 3-shot HDR sequence at user set exposure increments.

olympus tough rules

I have got the previous gen one of these - you can pick them up on ebay for about £100 and apart from a few megapixals difference there is not much loss. Just check the seals.

the super macro is very good with built in LED light.

I bought one because it looked wife-proof, and so it has proved. It is also child proof which means that you can give it to a six year old to go and make videos of her rabbit/ the dog and know that the camera will survive.

good for taking underwater in the swimming pool or on holiday - can do snorkelling or shallow dives quite happily.

Erm...

"Has anybody not trashed a digital camera at some point while out and about?"

Yes. Just saying, that's all.

(Ok, I could have a rant about how people don't see any further than their own horizons, like this, and how that's why lousy programming languages and operating systems are what I have to deal with day-to-day but that would be off-topic.)

Sample Shots

I like the article a lot, but please, if you are including sample shots from different cameras, could you at least give us shots of the same subject in the same lighting so that we can do a head to head? You don't need to become a full camera review site, but the included samples are really pretty worthless, given their huge variability.

Casio - ive had one of these since release and I love it... the SD card cover is rediculous, but so far its never popped open....

Ive taken the camera to parties, the beach, pool, sailing, coastereering, clivff diving and my 3 yearold uses it whenever we go out.

on paper its not as rugged as the rest, but in general use its more than resilient plus, compared to the rest of the chunkers its sevelte enough to slip in a pocket and its smart enough to use in non-extreme scenarios.

The model reviewed is dated now, so performance wise it is behind the others, most noticably the video is only DVD quality, but as a second camera for kicking about its a great little tool.

D'oh!

Where's the Hero2 HD?

http://www.reghardware.com/Design/graphics/icons/comment/fail_32.pngSeems to me that any round-up of ruggedized digital cameras is just a little silly without inclusion of the Hero2. That camera is pretty much the defacto standard for use by skiers, motocrossers, car racers, BMXers, rock climbers, snow & skate boarders, snorklers, sky divers, 200mph motorcycle motorway nutjobs, etc., etc.